Wisconsin’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act prohibits untrue, deceptive, or misleading representations in the sale of goods and services to the public. Although the law was enacted almost a century ago to target false print advertising, it effectively affords remedies for wrongful trade practices in the modern age. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has recently decided several important issues arising out of the Act’s application in the ever-changing business and consumer world.

For many years, Daniel W. Hildebrand contributed to Wisconsin legal literature by annually describing those Wisconsin appellate decisions that he viewed to be most significant. Attorney Hildebrand passed away in late 2007; these authors, both former supreme court clerks, are attempting to pick up the Hildebrand torch.

Opinions, Voices & Ideas

If you need help handling life stresses, don’t try hiding your problems from your friends or colleagues. They probably already know. Instead, call the trained volunteers at WisLAP. They’re ready 24/7 now to help judges as well as lawyers, law students, and their families.

Unlike some organizations that are going “topless” to prohibit laptops and BlackBerrys in meetings, the State Bar Executive Committee is experimenting with receiving and reviewing all meeting materials electronically and so is inviting participants to bring their laptops to meetings.

Perhaps you've wanted to pursue a legal career serving the public interest, but you can't afford to follow your heart. Or maybe you are serving the public, but you're staggering under the weight of student debt. If so, you'll want to attend Practice Public Interest (or Government) Law without Going to the Poorhouse.

State public defender Nick Chiarkas and State Bar president Diane Diel make their case for increasing the rate paid to private bar attorneys who accept public defender appointments from $40 per hour to $70 per hour.

Under recently adopted amendments to SCR 10.03(4), effective Jan. 1, 2009, non-Wisconsin licensed lawyers who are employed by a single entity to provide legal services to their employers must register with the Board of Bar Examiners and meet other requirements.

At the beginning of a career, it is harder to decide whether to take on a client or subsequently to disengage from one, because of a lack of experience and the need to develop a client base. More than 35 years of practice has given me a fairly well-developed red flag detector.

Our office manager takes care of payroll and disbursements. What steps should I take to keep an eye on the office manager's activities with respect to office expenditures without making her think I don't trust her with the firm's checkbooks and credit cards?

I’ve heard horror stories about clients who don’t pay bills, return phone calls, provide information, or timely follow through on actions needed to advance their legal matter. Still other stories recount clients making pests of themselves by too frequent phone calls, or worse, trying to intimidate lawyers or their employees, or disrespecting the court. I’m a new lawyer and just opening a solo office. How can I ethically disengage from representing a problem client, and better yet, how do I identify and

In September, Gov. Jim Doyle issued a proclamation, and the Senate and Assembly approved citations, declaring September Juror Appreciation Month. The statewide celebration kicked off with a press conference at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, State Bar President Diane S. Diel, and then-Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Kitty K. Brennan, and other local officials hosted the event. Press conferences also were held in Waukesha County and

The Wisconsin Supreme Court seeks lawyers and nonlawyers for a new committee to study the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct in light of the American Bar Association's 2007 revision of its Model Code of Judicial Conduct, other proposals for modification, and developing case law.

Marquette University law students and faculty recently donated 1,793 pounds of books to law schools in Africa through a book drive organized by the student organization Association for Women in Law (AWL) at Marquette University Law School.

Wisconsin recently was selected by the Council of State Governments to participate in the Chief Justices' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative, a project aimed at improving the criminal justice system's response to people with mental illness.